RIVERS State Government has described as falsehood, allegation by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that it approached the state House of Assembly for approval to secure a fresh $280 million loan.
State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, in a statement yesterday, said that the $280m loan the state House of Assembly approved for the government on Monday was part of the needed formalities for the government to access the World Bank and Africa Development Bank loan package it applied for in 2012.
“PDP issued a misleading and mischievous statement accusing the Rivers State Government of taking a new loan of $280m. The statement, which was a tissue of lies, claims that the government tabled a fresh request for loan before the House of Assembly. The PDP also claims that the loans were to enable the governor source money for 2015 elections and to sponsor the All Progressives Congress, APC.
“The facts of the matter are as follows: The Rivers State Government applied for and secured a loan package from the African Development Bank, AfDB, and the World Bank in 2012 for the World Bank-assisted water scheme in Rivers State.
“The rule is that the national government will need to endorse the release of the loan after the state House of Assembly would have approved. Everything else was done but for reasons unknown to the Rivers State Government, the responsible officers in the Ministry of Finance failed to sign off the release of funds, thereby delaying the Rivers State Government robust water sector’s complete overhaul.”
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